A widely reported incident in France over the weekend has killed three teens and seriously injured another, as they were attempting to use home-brewed smoke bombs/grenades from a dangerous and unstable mix of chemicals in the town of Bas-en-Basset in Haute-Loire, in south-central France near Lyon.

Media reports on the investigation suggest high temperatures and a highly-unstable chemical mixture that one or more of the teens found on the internet exploded, completely destroying an abandoned building at an unregulated airsoft site they were playing at. Remains of the mixture, and apparently one or more airsoft guns were recovered at the scene. A fourth player is in serious condition.

The incident, and media coverage of the comments from a prosecutor and others, have painted a particularly damaging light on the 25-thousand-plus ‘Softers in France, just as the game/sport was recovering from fallout following several terrorist incidents and arrests in 2015. Attempts to tie airsoft to those incidents by politicians and the media were being fought by players and organizations in France…and were repeated again this weekend in the aftermath of the deadly incident.

A Facebook Page….Je Suis Airsofteur Responsable “We Are Responsible Airsofters”…features several new safety warning messages, urging players to play at organized sites, and not use formulas found on the internet to make dangerous materials or props for airsoft play.

THUMPY is following and will have more links and commentary as this story develops. Thanks to our friend Ludovic Allaire who urged us to pass along details and the link to Je Suis Airsofteur Responsable on Facebook